mafo
A really good story, and well-researched and detailed. Not every day you get a “very interesting life” story that's also a “serendipitously frequently in the background of historical events” story. I really commend the author on writing such a long book that just stays interesting the whole time.
Enjoyable writing style, but this book was a let down for me. I thought it was going to be about Paris as a whole, but it was all about one circle, and had too many uncompelling characters, and ultimately circled around “investigations” and “trials” that were just one person's word against another ad nauseum.
Among the most page-turning books I've read in years. Good characters, great backdrop, great story, but sort of didn't live up to its potential. Would still definitely recommend to others.
The majority of the information is in the minority of the text. It suffers from constant restatement of the author's thesis that humankind sees underground pursuits as hell-like, and relies heavily on the reader's existing knowledge of the topography of London.
I am giving up because this book is hard to grind through on AUDIOBOOK. It's basically all about how the author is better than you. There are maybe 10 pages of interesting interviews, but it's mostly a play-by-play about how excited she got this one time. I think she has the ability to be a good journalist in the probing/inquiring sense, but she's too close to this one. Also “I shook like a tuning fork that had been hit overly hard” and “The book wasn't LIKE a brick, it could actually be used as one”. Yeah.
Very interesting, and recommendable, though really dry at times - the author doesn't pick his focal points terribly well.
Once you get over the fact that this has nothing in common with the average celebrity memoir, it's a lot more enjoyable. It's more like a “life in the life” (as opposed to day in the life) of an imperfect person who feels a lot of feels. In a good way.
First and most notable impression: this is really more of a military history than a medical history, which was ultimately fine with me, but may not be for everyone - this is not “The Family that Couldn't Sleep” or “The Demon in the Freezer” (the bright side of course being that it won't scare the everloving crap out of you). It's also worth noting that there are some gruesome disease & battlefield descriptions that may be tough on the weak of stomach. Overall, though, the narrative progression is clear and logical, and the weaving in of quotations from primary sources is extremely well done and draws from diverse sources. Definitely recommended, especially if, like me, your knowledge of Napolean's campaign into Russia is limited to a) that it happened, and b) it was a real bad idea.
Definitely a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story. I welled up at work a few too many times, too.
I gotta say, good day-in-the-life antarctic stuff, casts some light on Douglas Mawson for the non-Australians among us, but damn: the actual “alone on the ice” part only takes about 2% of the book.
So. Good. The whole thing is just interesting, heartfelt, engaging, NOT overdone, tangents are all just the right length, I can't say enough. And while it's true to the pathos of the war, it's actually full of truly chuckle-worthy one-liners, both from the author's personal narrative and his interviewees. Additionally, it would probably appeal to people not that interested in WWI history if they have an interest in oral history or just life in America at the time of the war.
Sort of obviously a passion project by someone who had enough credibility to get it published. Certainly not a bad book, but reading it is sort of like asking a cattle rancher why you should eat beef. But hey, Moby Dick is an awesome book, a classic, and far wryer and more approachable than people realize, so if it helps people get interested, good for it!
I feel weird about this book. The crux of the weirdness is that this is really good advice for managing up...if you're an executive admin. Like, triaging my boss' email is WAY out of the scope of my job. If you keep reading, though, that type of stuff turns out to be more “staging” than the meat of the book. Ultimately there is a lot of good advice that I'd consider somewhat obvious, but that doesn't make it bad advice. Things like anticipating your boss' needs, being a team player, and knowing when making your boss look good is more important than making yourself look good. Still feel weird because I've never really worked anywhere with this management paradigm.
Talented writer and a very moving book, but the narrative was chopped up into several nearly-unrelated parts, and in my opinion, the story used to describe this book in all the blurbs was a very small part of it. Still recommended, although the first few chapters might drive you nuts if you're not a dog person.
Very page-turny, I was reading it in a coffee shop before a job interview instead of prepping. It bogs down a little in the middle with exposition, but it picks back up.
Very very short. I think Laura Vanderkam has a great message about finding time by making choices, and revisiting her work always helps me get back on the right track. Don't begrudge her the gimmicky title :)
I friggin loved this book. It goes from zero to creepy-as-hell IMMEDIATELY, and then is really well paced throughout. The author brings in good supporting information at every turn, and when he finally draws his conclusion, he's not bombastic about it.
Very interesting tale of the start, reputation, and changing culture of Mclean. There are some brief but descriptive passages about suicide, for those who want to avoid those, but the vast majority of the book is with a larger field of view, and longer timeline. Recommended if you're interested in Boston institutions or the modern history of psychiatric care.
Interesting, page-turning and scratches that “I should know about this thing” itch. Downside was that it started too late (stop talking about Bunker Hill like I know what happened there!) and ended too early (AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?!) Would still recommend, I just need to do some research to round it out.
Definitely a “the man behind the legend” alternative narrative of Shackleton. The title needlessly makes reference to Ireland, as this isn't particularly focused on Shackleton's Irish heritage or even life (I put off reading this book because I was worried about it being only nominally about the explorer). I will warn readers that it (fairly, given the intent of the book) TOTALLY glosses over the cool, exciting, unbelievable stuff of Antarctic exploration. So you also need to read “South”, “The Worst Journey In The World”, etc. to really appreciate the Shackleton legend.